Migration
by paalvaa
Summary: The story of a family of draenei and their migration from Argus to Draenor, and then from Draenor to Azeroth


A long, long time ago, on a world now left behind, there was a small town. It was large enough to be self sufficient, having most basic functions of society, but not much beyond that. Just beyond the city borders was a large field of grass. If one looked at this field from above, one would see two figures standing in its middle; one tall, and one short. If one looked closer, one might also notice the aiming targets around them. If one stayed at this point of view, one would sometimes see a ball of fire fly from the tall figure to one of the targets, and occasionally a small burst of fire coming from the small figure in the same general direction. If one instead opted to move closer to these figures, a conversation could be heard.

"Very good, very good", the tall one exclaimed.  
"But I wanted to hit the target!", the short one responded.  
"Don't worry too much about it. Producing the flame is already an achievement, few manage to get further than that this early."

The short one contemplated this for a bit, then nodded and smiled. "I'm a good magic", it said. "Mage", the tall one corrected. "Oh", it continued, "it is getting quite late. You should run along now, or your mother will be worried about you!"

Edirah smiled as he watched the little girl run home. With a little work on his part, and a lot on hers, she could become quite a good mage when she grew up. He then thought of the girl's sister, who did not seem to have any desire to choose a path for her life to follow. He hoped she would change her mind about that soon, at least for her mother Rina's sake.

As she approached her home, the little girl saw her mother standing in the open doorway. "You're late home again, Ava." The girl stopped in front of her mother, and looked at her feet. "I'm sorry, mum." The mother sighed, turned around, and went into the house. "There is some food on the table for you, you can eat it before you go to bed. Cere is already asleep."

* * *

Ava looked back. Somewhere, far away, was the little town she grew up in. She was about to leave it behind forever. She muttered a curse at the ones who had betrayed them to the dark titan, and entered the great space ship. Oshu'gun, as it was called, was going to carry them all to safety. She hoped the naaru could keep that promise.

She had, along with her mother and sister, been put near the middle of the ship. There were several other families near them, and her mother was engaged in conversation with the mother of a young child. Her sister, on the other hand, was just staring into the air. She decided to speak to her.

"Cere, are you okay?" There was no response. "Cere?" At the second prompt, Cere looked at her. "Hm? Oh, Ava, hi." Ava decided to repeat her query. "Cere, are you all right?" Cere closed her eyes, and appeared to give this some thought. Eventually, she responded. "It's just all a bit much. I'll pull together, don't you worry." Cere smiled at Ava, and she smiled back. "I'm glad to hear it."

* * *

Cere wiped a tear off her face. The poor woman had been crying for days, Ava thought, she must be exhausted. Of course, the last few days had not been very easy for her either. She shifted slightly in her seat, moving closer to Cere, and silently held her hand for a bit. Then the priest started talking, and they both listened.

"Today", she started, "is a day dedicated to the memory of Rinaraa. To some of you, she was a friend, to others, a coworker. To a few, a mother, to many, an acquaintance. Today is an opportunity for those who loved her to honour her life, and for those who did not, to make peace with her memory."

Ava felt a small tug at her robe. She looked down into the worried face of Riri, who spoke before she could ask what was upsetting her. "Mommy, where is gramma?", she asked. Nagol, Ava's husband, overheard the conversation and took Riri aside. Ava hoped Riri would understand what had happened, and why her grandmother wasn't coming back. She held Cere's hand tight.

* * *

"Oh, hello there!" The family was greeted by a young man. "My name is Megelon, Velen put me in this room along with you," he explained. Given the circumstances, Ava didn't mind sharing a room with a stranger. She could imagine the nightmare it must have been to fit all these people in the Exodar. "Hi Megelon, nice to meet you. My name is Avanethiel, though I usually go by Ava. This is my husband Nagol, and our daughter Ririnaa should be arriving any minute now." They shook hands, but none of them said anything. Not that there was much to be said, they had all been directed into the large spaceship in a hurry, and only the Prophet Velen and a few others knew where they were heading. Ava suspected even they weren't sure.

They had been flying for a few hours, and things seemed to be under control. Ava sighed, and for the first time in months, smiled. They had escaped. The eredar weren't following them to get their twisted revenge. The orcs weren't slaughtering them mindlessly. Wherever they landed, she hoped they would find peace. She knew it wouldn't last forever, but at least for a while, she hoped for peace.

There was a loud noise. The ship shook violently. Ava woke up, and looked at her husband, who could only look back with the same fear in his eyes as he saw in hers. They both looked at Megelon, who was holding on to his chair with his eyes closed. Ava felt a strong fear take ahold of her. "Nagol", she asked, as calmly as she could manage, "where is Riri?" After an eternity in her mind, he shook his head and replied, "I don't know. She noticed a friend pass by our room about an hour ago, she ran with her." Ava tried to get up, but Nagol held her. "Don't try looking for her. She can't be alone. Wherever she is, she's as safe as we are."

There was another loud noise, shaking the ship again. Then suddenly, there were no more sounds, and the ship stopped shaking. Everything stood still. After a few seconds, Ava felt, to her horror, like she was becoming lighter. She, along with Nagol, lifted off their seats, which in turn lifted off the floor. They looked over at Megelon, who was experiencing the same thing. Then suddenly, everything went dark.

* * *

Ava woke up. She was lying in what appeared to be the sad remains of the room she and her family had shared with Megelon. It was mostly just the floor remaining, the walls seemed to have been blown away. Around the room was... grass. She sat up, slowly, which was painful. She noticed the young man, Megelon, standing not too far away looking at the remains of the room. Memories came rushing back, and she stood up, quickly, as if her pain was gone. She ran over to Megelon.

"Megelon!" she cried. "Ava, you're awake! Are you okay?" She looked at him for a moment, then ignored the question and asked one of her own. "Have you seen Ririnaa?" "I haven't, but you might want to go talk to Proenitus. He was up here not too long ago, and said to send you to him if you woke up. When you woke up", he corrected himself. "Where can I find him", she continued. Megelon pointed down a nearby hill, at what looked like a large side room of the original vessel. Ava started running.

Approaching the first man she could see, she asked with what remained of her breath. "Are you Proenitus?" The man turned around, and confirmed that he was. Ava took a long breath, and continued, "Have you seen my daughter? Ririnaa, a young woman?" Proenitus shook his head. "Was she not with you?" Ava shook her head in return. "No, she ran off somewhere with a friend a while before... whatever that shaking was." Proenitus closed his eyes, and lowered his head. "Then I'm afraid I don't know where she is. Maybe someone else" Ava interrupted him with a word of thanks, and ran.

She didn't make it too far. A familiar voice was crying out for her. "Ava! Hey, Ava!" She turned around and looked at Nagol, who was walking towards her, with a heavy limp. She rushed over to him. "Oh, Nagol, I'm so happy to see you're okay!" He took her hand, and replied "Likewise. I was so worried. But... there's something you need to see now." He led her over to a small group of stones. Looking closer, she realised they were graves. She looked at her husband with tears in her eyes. Nagol pointed to one of the tombstones, hugged her, and said, "I'm so sorry, hun." Ava walked slowly up to the stone. It was placed across two graves. The deceased were from the same family. She dreaded what she was going to see, but at the same time, she knew.

Here is the final resting place of

CEREMINATH RIRINAA

Beloved family They will be missed


End file.
